Former Oxford dean of students testifies about not searching the shooter's backpack, meeting with parents during James Crumbley trial
(CBS DETROIT) - The trial of James Crumbley continues Monday, with the second witness of the day being called to testify.
The first person called to testify on Monday was Shawn Hopkins, the counselor at Oxford High School who had received emails from teachers who were concerned about the shooter and who had met with James and Jennifer Crumbley the day of the shooting.
The next person called to testify was Nicholas Ejak, the former dean of students at Oxford High School.
In 2021, he worked at the high school and was primarily responsible for the student code of conduct at the high school in that role.
Ejak confirmed that he handled discipline while Hopkins handled student advocacy.
They reviewed the email sent by a teacher to Ejak and Pamela Fine, the restorative practices coordinator, on Nov. 29 after the student was caught looking at videos of bullets on his phone. The teacher had said that this prompted them to review previous work, which also seemed to be on the violent side.
READ: Trial of James Crumbley, father of Oxford High School shooter, continues with third day of testimony
The next morning, a teacher sent Ejak and Hopkins an email with the shooter's math assignment that had disturbing images and concerning writing on it. Before sending the email, the teacher had reported it in person to Ejak.
After that, Ejak said he went to Hopkins' office, and Hopkins already knew he was walking in there to discuss the shooter.
Once they talked about the math assignment, Hopkins went to go get the shooter.
The shooter talked about the drawings on the math assignment, and Ejak said that the shooter confirmed he understood how bad the drawings on the assignment looked. The shooter had told them that he was interested in video games.
After Hopkins had talked to the shooter's mother, Ejak went to retrieve the shooter's items, including his backpack, since classes were changing.
He said as the dean of students, he has permission to search a student's belongings when there is reasonable suspicion that the student has something illegal or something not allowed at school. He said in this situation, there was nothing that indicated to him that he needed to.
The defense began the cross-examination and confirmed the different factors the prosecution questioned Ejak about. He confirmed that he first saw the math assignment on a cellphone and saw the words, "blood everywhere" but did not see it very well initially. Defense attorney Mariell Lehman said sometimes high school students draw violent things, and Ejak agreed.
Lehman confirmed details of the meeting Ejak and Hopkins had with James and Jennifer Crumbley on the day of the shooting.
She questioned him about James Crumbley's comment about the shooter having a journal to write in but confirmed the father didn't give any additional or specific details about the journal.
Ejak confirmed that he indicated the shooter's backpack was heavy, but he said he was making a joke at how easily she picked up and how his arm dropped, so it was a joke at how strong she was compared to him.
Lehman questioned Ejak about him not searching the backpack, and he confirmed that there was no reasonable suspicion to search the backpack.
James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in the Oxford High School shooting where his son killed four students and injured seven others on Nov. 30, 2021.
